She had been a goddess in chains.
And now the chains had shattered.
Her massive back exploded with sensation as something massive tore free from her shoulder blades. Not pain—not exactly—but pressure, release, expansion.
Wings!
Her wings burst outward with a thunderous crack, ripping through the atmosphere like divine blades. They tore open, vast beyond comprehension—translucent membranes of ice-bluestretched taut between jagged white bones that could puncture mountains. Frost erupted along their edges in violent crystalline bursts, not merely shimmering but blazing with cold fire.
The wings began to flap and didn't just catch the air—they seized it, dominated it, commanded the very heavens to bend to her will.
And Sol didn't just stop falling.
She conquered gravity itself.
The sensation was unlike anything she had ever experienced. One moment she was plummeting toward death, and the next. . .she was floating.
Sideways.
Ohhhhhh!!!
Her massive new body hung in the air at an awkward angle, wings beating unevenly, tail thrashing for balance she didn't know how to find. She wasn't flying so much as. . .flailing.
Marvelously.
What. . .how do I. . .get control?
Her wings flapped again—too hard on the left, too soft on the right—and she spun in a dizzy circle, the world wheeling around her in a blur of blue, white, and gold.
This is impossible. This is insane. This is. . .glorious.
The thought came unbidden, rising from somewhere deep in her new dragon heart. Because it was glorious. The power thrumming through her veins. The strength coiled in her muscles. The way the wind bent around her wings like a lover's caress. She understood now. Why Korin called himself a god.
From above, Pyrran's voice split the sky. "She really is a dragon!"
No mockery now.
No laughter.
Just hunger.
But, Sol didn't care.
She was too busy trying not to tumble out of the sky.
Her wings beat frantically, each stroke sending her lurching in a different direction.
Left.
Right.
Up.
Down.
She had no idea how to control this body. It was too big, too powerful, too everything. Every movement felt exaggerated. Every twitch of a muscle sent her careening through the air.
How do dragons do this?!
